


Venom: The City By Night

by SaneCharlie



Category: Marvel (Comics), Spider-Man (Comicverse), Venom (Comics)
Genre: Blood, Character Study, Comic Book Violence, Gen, Guns
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-07
Updated: 2019-10-07
Packaged: 2020-11-26 17:48:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,570
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20934242
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SaneCharlie/pseuds/SaneCharlie
Summary: Eddie Brock is trying to be a hero. Sometimes it’s hard to keep to the straight and narrow - especially with the voice in the back of his head that keeps urging him to hurt...





	Venom: The City By Night

The dark city skyline was studded with countless lights. It was a galaxy, where millions of souls flitted lightly from star to star - commuters and cleaners and late-night shoppers, a swirling, teeming mass of life. And in the darkness between those stars, there moved a shadowed figure. It swung quickly and gracefully through the cold night air, lightly bobbing and darting from building to building. It landed on a rooftop for a handful of pounding steps, then flung itself over the edge, plunging through the air before throwing out another line and swinging onward.  
It dipped low, and the radiating glow of the streets stretched up and reached it, highlighting the white lines that danced across its glossy black form. The light picked out its large, white eyes, lashing tongue, and an enormous mouthful of knife-sharp teeth. Venom grinned widely, and swung on.  
His stomach growled, echoed a moment later by the voice in his head.  
_hungry, eddie_  
_I know, dear. I'm hungry too._  
_get food, then?_  
_Later. We'll eat in the morning. We're busy right now._   
_eat what? no food at home. no money._  
That was true. Right now the freelancing was going more poorly than usual, and his savings, meagre at the best of times, had dried up completely. His cupboard hadn't seen food in days. Or maybe weeks. He felt the symbiote grumbling, and its irritation started to seep into his own feelings - it was hard to tell just where his mind ended and the other began, especially when their emotions were so well aligned. But he pushed those feelings down for now. Tonight, they were on patrol. Tonight, they were the city's defender.  
He felt the symbiote's attention drawn down to street level. _eddie! look, down there!_  
He looked - a convenience store, and a glimpse inside showed him someone trying to rob the place. Perfect.  
He shot another web and swung himself up, landing lightly against the opposite wall and clinging there, his black coating shifting and camouflaging itself against the bricks. Venom's eyes glinted as he stared down into the streets below. The criminal was still there at the counter, and it looked like they were threatening the staff with a knife that shook in their hand. Not exactly the most experienced robber. Most of the ones in this neighbourhood would at least have been using a handgun.  
He felt the confusion from his other. _something wrong?_  
_Maybe. Let's go in carefully._  
A bell jingled as the door swung open and closed, and the robber flinched, and swung the knife around as he looked at the man who'd entered. Even in his civvies, Eddie supposed he was intimidating - not so much the hoodie and jeans, which were cheap and a little dirty, but the fact that he was built out of solid muscle. But he played it off, widening his eyes, and his hands went up as though surrendering. "Oh, hey, sorry. I just needed some milk, but I can come back later?"  
The robber's expression wasn't visible - they'd at least managed to wear a mask, although it looked suspiciously like an old black sock - but their body language conveyed their confusion well enough. Their head looked back and forth between the unimpressed woman managing the store and the new customer, before coming to a decision and making a shooing motion with the knife. It looked, Eddie noticed, like a cheap kitchen knife. That backed up his guess that very little preparation had gone into this robbery. "Go on then, get out!"  
God, the man sounded like he was shooing a raccoon away from his trashcan. Eddie acted like he hadn't heard. "Hey, buddy, are you doing okay?"  
"He really isn't," said the shopkeeper. Her arms were folded, and her expression suggested that she'd seen a few robbers before and this guy was probably in the bottom ten.  
"You keep quiet! I asked you to open up the till!"  
Eddie stepped closer. "You don't really want to do this, do you?  
"You shut up! And stay back!" He waved the knife at Eddie, looking like he might drop it at any moment. On the other hand, even a novice could be dangerous. And unpredictable.  
_be careful eddie_  
_I am, darling, don't worry._  
He stepped a little closer, and the robber took half a step back. The knife came up again, defensive, and Eddie reached out, quick and careful - and plucked the knife out of his hand.  
He smirked. Spider-man, this guy wasn't.  
The would-be robber stared at him for a second or two, before trying to make a break for it past him, and being effortlessly caught in a single hand. Eddie nodded to the shopkeeper. "Sorry about the disturbance, ma'am. Have a nice evening." She rolled her eyes at him, and jerked her head at the door. Well, fair enough. He took the robber outside, pulled him around a corner in spite of his struggles, and pulled off the mask.  
The guy behind it looked under-nourished, exhausted and unhealthy, and was already tearing up. "Please, man, please don't hurt me! I'm sorry, I didn't want to do it, I just didn't know what else to do!"   
_eat him, eddie? he was stealing! he's bad!_  
_I don't think it's that simple, dear. Give me a minute to talk to him._  
"I'm not going to hurt you, I just want to talk. Can I let you go? Or are you going to try and run away again?"  
The guy shook his head, defeat in every shaky line of his frame. "I won't run. Promise."  
Eddie let him go, and stepped back, and the guy half-crumpled, and began muttering to himself under his breath. "Oh god. Oh god, I don't know what to do."  
Eddie bent down a little, to bring his face back in view. Hey. Buddy. What's your name?"  
He sniffed. "Marcus. Marcus Smith."  
"Hey Marcus, good to meet you. My name's Eddie." Marcus nodded, didn't say anything. "So Marcus, how about you tell me what's going on, what's a guy like you doing trying to rob a store? I can already tell it's not a habitual thing."  
The guy shook his head. "I've never done anything like that before, but I didn't know what else to do. I was desperate."  
"Why?"  
He looked like terror was building up in him again, as his eyes flicked back and forth, unconsciously looking for an escape route. "They told me I can't talk to anyone about it."  
Of course they did. "Marcus, if you don't talk to me, I can't help you."  
The tears started flowing before he opened his mouth. "I have to get money, I have to. They have my son."  
A chill ran through Eddie, followed by a burning rage. His other felt it and surged eagerly within him. _No, not yet._ He pushed those feelings down, leashed them. For now.  
"They kidnapped him from school, sent me photographs from his phone, and told me that I have until midnight to get ten thousand dollars if I want him back. I don't have that sort of money - I sold whatever I could around the house, everything but my phone, and even that got me barely a thousand all together. Eddie, I have to get him back, he's my boy. Can you help me? Please?"  
For a few moments, Eddie couldn't speak, he was so angry. These parasites! Preying on the weak and innocent, making them desperate, stealing everything they had and more! The symbiote was roaring within him, and it was all he could do to hold it back. He took a deep breath, and another, and looked Marcus in the eye.  
"I promise, Marcus, you and I are going to get your boy back to you."

* * *

They'd gone to Marcus' place, and Eddie could see that he hadn't been kidding about his lack of cash. The place looked almost as run-down as his own, and didn't even have a tv. The real difference, though, was the feel of the place. Where his own was a spartan bachelor-pad, untidy and a little grimy, this cheap little apartment looked lived-in. There were mugs and plates in the drying rack, schoolbooks sitting on the table. It was poor as anything, but there was life here. There was love.  
And part of that was the photo sitting in a frame on the table. It was a recent one - a skinny kid grinning at the camera and holding a heavy book. He looked so young - Marcus had told him that his son, Carl, was ten, but this boy was so skinny and small looking that he seemed even younger than that. Helpless, really.  
Marcus came over with two glasses of water. "He's a good kid. Smart, you know? Smarter than I am, that's for sure." Eddie accepted one of the glasses and took a sip as Marcus sat.  
"He sounds great."  
"He is, he really is." Suddenly Marcus had tears running down his face again, and Eddie was almost frozen. He wasn't the most delicate person, socially, and this called for a gentle touch. He reached out a hand, put it on the man's shoulder.  
"Hey. It's going to be okay. We're going to sort this out, I promise."  
Marcus sniffled, nodded, looked up at him. "Do you have any kids?"  
"No, I don't. Never really settled down with anyone, you know?"  
"Sure. I was like that for a while. Then I met Letitia and that was it for me, we were set. God, she was incredible. We got married after a year, had Carl not that long after."  
Eddie nodded, slowly. "And where's she now?"  
"She died." _Ah, me and my big mouth._ "Cancer. She fought it for a while, but...the treatments just made her feel awful, and the cost was...she decided it was better to just...not."  
Crap crap crap. Way to make the man feel worse. "I'm sorry, Marcus. Shouldn't have asked."  
"It's okay." He sniffed again. "It was a rough time. But you know, me and Carl have each other, so..." His voice suddenly choked off, and tears built again. "I have to get him back, Eddie. He's my whole world, and he's all I have left of his mother."  
Marcus gulped down the last of his water, and stared at Eddie with an urgent, hungry look. "Eddie, what are we going to do?"  
"You said they're going to call you, right?"  
He nodded jerkily. "That's what they said. I have to get the money, then they'll call me at midnight and tell me what to do next, where to meet them."  
"Okay." Eddie nodded slowly. "Do you have any idea who we're dealing with?"  
"Not really. I mean, there's a couple of local gangs, but..."  
"Sure, okay. And you haven't pissed anyone off recently?"  
"What do you mean?"  
"Well, no offence, but," he gestured around at Marcus' kitchen, "your lifestyle doesn't suggest that you have a lot of money lying around. Why would someone want to target you, if they want that kind of cash?"  
Marcus shrugged. "I don't know, maybe they're just going after whoever they can. Why else would someone do this?"  
"Mmm. Not sure." He took a sip of water. "What do you do for work?"  
"I'm in construction."  
"Yeah? How's that been going lately?"  
"Ehhh...not great." He suddenly looked panicked. "Nothing criminal, though, all the guys who work there are fine! They wouldn't be caught up in anything like this. They're good guys!"  
"I'm sure they are. So then what's been going on?"  
"Some of the guys, they've been...unhappy. We don't get paid a lot, and it can be dangerous work, so they feel like we need to do something. They've been talking about getting unionised, organising, getting better wages and conditions, all that. Just talk, you know."  
"Sure." That might do it. It was a semi-open underworld secret that the Kingpin had interests in construction, and he was a tight-fisted bastard. He wouldn't be happy about the idea of any sort of collective action. "And these talks, have you been involved?"  
"I guess. You know, I've worked there a while, so the guys, they keep me in the loop. But I haven't really been doing that much, all I said was I thought it was a good idea." He got up, poured another glass of water, and downed it in a single gulp.  
"That might have been enough. Have you noticed anyone around the site lately? Anyone who looked out of place?"  
He shook his head for a moment, then paused. "Now you mention it...there was one guy. Guy in a suit. He talked to a few of the guys. Don't know what about, though, he didn't talk to me and the guys he did talk to were pretty cagey." He blinked nervously. "You think he had something to do with this, do you?"  
"Maybe." He shrugged his shoulders. "Sorry to ask you so many questions, Marcus. Just helps to get an idea of what we might be walking into."  
"Sure, yeah. Sure." Another jerky nod. Then the phone rang, and he almost jumped.  
A glance at the clock. Midnight. He looked at Eddie, and Eddie nodded back at him. "You ready?"  
Marcus shook his head, but hit the button to answer the phone, setting it on speaker so that Eddie could listen too. "Hello?"  
A growl answered him. "You know what we want. You got the money?"  
He hesitated for a moment, and Eddie nodded again, slowly, reassuringly. "Yeah. Yeah, I got the money."  
Was it his imagination, or was there a surprised pause at the other end of the line? "Okay, great. Bring the money and meet us, then." They gave the address of a parking garage a few blocks away. "Fifth floor. Come to the south side, and come alone."  
"Wait, wait!" There was silence. "Let me talk to my son!"  
There was a shuffling noise from the other end of the line, then a small, frightened voice said: "Dad?"  
Marcus gasped, and his next words rushed out. "I'm here Carl, it's me. Are you okay, have they hurt you, are you alright?"  
"Dad? Dad I'm scared. Are you coming to get me?"  
"I am, I'm coming Carl, I promise!"  
The phone rustled again, and the rough voice came back. "Touching. Bring the money, and the boy will be fine. Be here inside thirty minutes."  
The call disconnected without another word, and Marcus collapsed in his chair. "Oh, god, what are we going to do? What can we do?"  
"We'll be fine." Eddie's voice was terribly calm. "We're going to go to that address, we're going to pretend to make the exchange, and then I'm going to make them return your son."  
_are we going to hurt some bad people eddie?  
__Oh yes, dear. We certainly are._

* * *

The midnight streets were quiet out here, almost abandoned by cars and people alike, and the faint flickering streetlights made them both look ill and insubstantial as they arrived at the parking structure. It towered over them, sharp edges and blocky concrete shapes turning it into a mysterious and sinister fortress.  
Eddie could feel his other's impatience - or it might have been his own. Either way, he pushed it back. _We have to be careful here. We can't get Marcus or Carl hurt._  
_okay eddie. we'll be sneaky._  
_Great._  
When they got to the corner, they stopped. "Okay, now they said to come alone, so I have to disappear." Marcus, as he'd predicted, looked terrified, and he tried to reassure him. "I'll be close by, so you don't need to worry. But I'm good at staying out of sight, and I need you not to look for me. Keep a good hold on the bag, make the exchange, and I'll take care of the rest."  
He nodded, nervously, and hefted the bag at his side. "Okay, but what if they look in the bag and notice that there's no money in it?"  
"Don't worry about that." Heaven knew Eddie was trying not to. This whole thing would have been easier if they'd actually had some money, even as a decoy, but Marcus' efforts hadn't been very successful, Eddie himself was flat broke, and he didn't know any billionaires who were still taking his calls. "By the time they want to try looking in there, I'll already be taking care of things."  
Marcus didn't look hugely confident, but he still nodded, and turned to go. And Eddie dropped into camouflage, and followed.  
It took a while for Marcus to get up to the fifth floor, and he was breathing heavily and cursing the broken elevators by the time he got out of the stairwell. The parking area was dark, most of the lights either broken or switched off, and the few that remained cast strange shadows across the floor, making the few parked cars that remained into imposing, misshapen sculptures.  
He got near to the south end, and still didn't see anything. His pulse was pounding. Had he come to the right place? Was this some sort of trick? He cleared his throat nervously. "Hello? Is anyone there?" Silence. "I've brought the money!"  
Headlights flicked on, dazzling him, and he shielded his eyes against the sudden glare. There was the sound of a car door slamming, and footsteps on the concrete as, slowly, a human shape became visible through that blinding light. It resolved gradually into a young man. A scary one. His face was hard and lean, arms bare to show his muscles and the tattoos that adorned them, and a heavy pistol was shoved into the waistband of his jeans. He sneered at Marcus.  
"Didn't think you were going to make it. Thought we'd have to keep the kid."  
Marcus just nodded, frantically. "Well, I mean, here I am. I made it."  
"You sure did. Hand over the money, then." The man reached forwards, but Marcus shrank back further.  
"Wait, wait."  
"What for, man? Hand it over!"  
"Please, let me see him first. Then I'll give it to you, I promise."  
"Oh, smart guy, huh? Whatever. Hey, Joey! Bring the kid!"  
There was another door slam, and a bigger shape became two people; another frightening young man, and Carl. Marcus almost burst into tears at the sight. His hands and mouth were wrapped in tape, and he looked completely terrified. He saw his dad and his eyes widened, and he tried to say something through the tape before his captor grabbed him and shook him. "Shut the hell up!"  
"Hey! Don't touch him!"  
"Whatever, tough guy, you can shut up too. Come on Tone, take his money."  
Tone grinned joylessly at Marcus. "You heard him, pal. Hand it over. And don't try any funny business, we've got more guys watching our back from the car." There was a shuffling sound near the car that might have been someone taking aim.  
Marcus nodded, his blood going colder by the second. Where was Eddie? Had he just ditched him to deal with these guys alone? He tried to stay calm, and put the bag gently on the ground. "Okay. There's the money, now let him go. Please."  
The guy sneered and reached for the bag, then flinched when there was a thump in the darkness. And another. It sounded like something hitting hard against the side of a car. Maybe something like a person's head.  
Immediately, both men drew their pistols. Joey pointed his back towards the noise, near the headlights, while the leader got up in Marcus' face, pushing the pistol against his chest. "What the fuck are you trying to pull, man? Is this some sort of trick? Huh? Because if it is, I am going to _fuck_ you _up_!"  
He stammered, tried to say something, but whatever he might have said was interrupted by a metallic sound as something scraped along the ground. It slid towards Joey, and stopped at his feet. He bent down, and looked, but it was unmistakable.  
It was a pistol. And there were little droplets of blood on it.  
Joey bounced to his feet and started firing, wild shots at the darkness, and behind him Carl fainted softly to the floor. The flashes of each shot seemed to be showing something out there, an enormous inhuman shape that shifted back and forth, flickering in the shadows. Shot after shot, and still the shape was standing out there. Then the pistol clicked empty.  
There was an impression of sudden shocking movement, Joey screamed as something grabbed him, and in a fraction of a second hauled him out of the little patch of light.  
There was another thump, and then silence.  
"What the fuck!" A hand roughly grabbed Marcus, and pulled him close, a gun was once again being waved in his face. "What the fuck is this? What are you pulling, man?" The man didn't wait for an answer, just pushed the pistol closer and pulled him into a tight hold. "Hey, whoever's out there! I've got your buddy! Show yourself, or I'll kill him!"  
There was no movement, no sound except the hum of the faint lights.  
"I mean it!" His voice was starting to sound shrill and panicked. "Get out here, now!"  
Stillness and silence.  
Out of the corner of his eye, Marcus noticed a movement, and the next thing he knew, an enormous black hand had closed around the pistol. There was a crunch of bones and breaking metal, and Tone screamed in pain. Marcus stumbled forwards, out of the grip, and knelt to check on Carl. His jacket came off, and made a makeshift pillow for his head. Only then did he turn back to see what had happened to Tone, and the sight before him was somehow the scariest thing he'd seen all night.  
Tone, muscular and intimidating as he was, had been reduced to a whimpering wreck, gripping the wrist of his broken hand as an enormous monster lifted him, one handed, by the neck. It was baring a huge number of fangs, and its enormous tongue reached out to lick Tone's cheek.  
_We can taste your fear."_ Its voice was gravel and tar.  
"Oh god, oh god, oh god." Tone was barely coherent. "Please, please don't kill me."  
_"Quiet.”_   
He shut up.  
_"You are worthless scum. We should eat you right now, but we might be merciful - if you tell us what we want to know."_  
"Please, yes, I'll tell you anything, I'm sorry!"  
_"Who do you work for?"_  
"I'm just...we're just a gang, we don't work for anybody!"  
_"Then why this man? You asked him for more than he could possibly have, why?"_  
"We just-" He choked for a moment, and Venom very slightly loosened his grip. "We were told to. Our boss told us to grab the kid, told us how much to ask for. We figured he must know what the guy was good for!" Another choking breath, and the man struggled. "Hey man, let me go! I'm sorry, okay!"  
Venom roared, jaws wide, splattering green drool on his victim's face. _"You took a child from his father, and for what? You don't even know why you did it. Pathetic! We ought to EAT YOUR BRAINS!"_  
"No, wait!"  
Marcus reached up a pleading hand from where he knelt with Carl, the desperate words feeling as though they were echoing on his lips. But Venom was looking to him, listening to what he was saying. "It's okay. You've saved my son. Everything is alright now, you don't have to kill anybody!"  
Venom looked back at the man trembling and whimpering in his hand, and snarled. _"You owe this man your life. Think about that when you're rotting in a cell."_ And a huge dark fist swept across and knocked the man senseless.  
Venom stood over the prone body for a moment, fists clenching and unclenching, then shuddered, and the blackness retreated from his body, leaving him just Eddie again. Marcus half-nodded to himself. He'd been shocked when Venom appeared out of the darkness, even horrified, but when he started taking out the gang members, Marcus knew who he really was. Behind that mask.  
"Thanks, Eddie. I owe you." His hand was lowered again, to rest against Carl's forehead, stroking back that soft hair.  
"You don't owe me a thing."  
Marcus looked at Eddie like he was an idiot. "Eddie, you saved my son, you probably saved his life. Or mine. I owe you everything."  
There wasn't much he could say to that. He shifted his weight back and forth for a moment. "Are you...can you carry him?"  
Marcus reached his arms under Carl's body and heaved him up in a cradling lift. "I've got him."  
Eddie grabbed the jacket from the ground, and draped it over Marcus' shoulders. "Looking good." Marcus smiled at him, gratefully, and suddenly he was back to feeling uncomfortable. He'd done the hero bit, but this gratitude was making him feel awkward and unsure. "Well, if you're all sorted, I'd better leave you to it."  
"Don't be ridiculous." Marcus sounded firm and confident, a heavy contrast to how he'd been for the rest of the night. "After all you've done tonight, the least I can do is cook you dinner. Or, uh, maybe an early breakfast. It won't be much, but-"  
"Thanks," Eddie cut him off. "That sounds great."

* * *

Carl was still dazed and confused when he woke, so he sat at the table quietly, staring at his father and at Eddie. Eddie hoped that he wasn't going to have too much trauma from this awful night - hopefully the fact that his father had swooped in and saved him would outweigh the fact that it had happened at all. Well, he could hope.  
Marcus bustled over with the pizza, hot from the oven, and loaded slices onto plates. "Now, I know it's not much, after everything you've done for us, but I hope it helps. You seemed, uh...pretty hungry." His eyes flicked involuntarily towards Carl, and Eddie got his meaning right away. Don't scare the boy by talking about cannibalism.  
"I was. Thank you, this is...it's perfect."  
Marcus smiled, but there was a sadness there too. "You're welcome." He took a bite of his food, swallowed it, and thought for a moment. "I just want to say, you're...I think that you're a better person than you realise. When you found me tonight, I was...I was desperate. You didn't have to listen, you didn't have to help me, but you did. And then when everything was done, it was like you tried to minimise it. To pretend it wasn't important. And it was, Eddie. You saved my life tonight."  
"Well, I'm not really..." he faltered.  
"No arguing. Eddie, I want you to know, you're a good man."  
There wasn't a lot he could say to that, except: "Thanks, Marcus. That means a lot."  
The pizza was cheap and pretty bland, the plates were cracked, and the kitchen was small and cold. But sitting there, eating together with Marcus and Carl, Eddie felt such a sense of calm. Of happiness. And he smiled into his food, enjoyed the feel of it in his stomach.  
_see, eddie? we did good, didn't we?_  
_Yeah, darling, we did. We did great._  
And outside, in the dark, the city-galaxy spun on through the night.


End file.
